Analysis of Two Important Strategies of Japanese Mould Enterprises' Procurement

How should Japanese companies' overseas production bases (mainly in Asia) purchase moulds? This is a new topic that is new. Especially in China where the market is gradually expanding, this problem is even more vexing.

The die user who owns the factory in China has to increase the local purchasing rate for various reasons, so it is hoped that the die maker can also enter the local area. However, most of the mold manufacturers are small companies. The funds and personnel are unable to meet the demand. Moreover, the mold has a side related to the equipment industry. Even if the labor cost in China is lower than Japan, the benefits of the mold manufacturers cannot catch up with the mold users (product manufacturers and Component manufacturers). There are many other reasons. For mold manufacturers, conditions are more unfavorable than those of product manufacturers and component manufacturers.

As a result, mold users began to purchase molds from Chinese-invested local mold manufacturers, and the evaluations of local manufacturers varied. An operator recently interviewed by the author has basically given up the purchase from local Chinese manufacturers. There are also business operators who believe that Chinese manufacturers are very much looking forward to (the company is planning to expand its production base in China).

The diametrically opposite evaluation results from the difference in quality requirements of the mold users. Professor Hashimoto Hiroshi of the Graduate School of Policy Studies roughly estimated that the Chinese mold maker's products are "1/3 cost, 1/2 quality" compared with Japanese mold makers. In other words, depending on the quality requirements, some users will be satisfied with "1/3 of the cost, 1/2 the quality" and the other part will not. Whether or not "1/2 quality" can be met is the key, but as long as there is technology, this should not constitute a problem. The important thing is to use it differently.

Therefore, Hashimoto believes that for those unmet needs, even if it comes from the Chinese market, it will flow to Japan (to buy Japanese-made molds), but the Japanese mold makers are not so optimistic. This is because the mold users entering China have a tendency to build internal molds.

In the recent trend of mold making in-house molds, Li Rong, executive director of the Japan Die and Mould Industry Association, "had felt a level that had never been taken seriously." The reasons why die users make their own products are very simple: Japanese die makers do not go to China, and Chinese local die makers can't rely on them completely. That's only their own making.

In this regard, the International Model Association Secretary-General Luo Baihui believes that the internal mold is not a strategy that every company can adopt. This is because, through layoffs in the 1990s, many companies have lost the people, equipment, and technology used to mold the mold. For manufacturing companies, though internal molds are good, it is very difficult to stick to them. Moreover, the busyness of the mold fluctuates greatly and cannot directly bring profits. Only companies that are prepared to do so can adopt the internal mold strategy and cannot ensure success. It seems that overseas mold purchasing will continue to be an important topic in the future.